March 11, 2015

Knitting Project 4/15: Old Town Cardigan

Old Town was on the needles for what seemed like a really long time to me. It was also knit in 3 different states and two different countries…which might have contributed to that feeling. I started it in the car on the way to Florida for the half-marathon back in January and finished it while at home in Ireland back in February but it has languished in a my knitting bag waiting for a good blocking before it finally got worn this week. It was worth the wait though I’m already 100% smitten and I know it’ll be heavily in rotation over the next few months.

The pattern is Old Town and I decided to use a cotton blend yarn so that it would be a little lighter for the summer months. Even when it’s roasting outside the blasting cold of the AC in work means I always need a cardigan with me. I used Knitpicks Shine sport in Platinum which arriving looking like a slightly more greenish grey hue than the silver grey I was expecting but I like it anyway. I had to play around with gauge a lot on this project – I ended up calculating that to get a small to medium size I would need to knit the x-small size. This meant that when I was doing the sleeves I decided that it would be best to not to the decreases (excellent idea) to get a better fit.

The construction on this cardigan was tricky….tricky in the “I don’t know how this is going to work so it’s keeping me really interested” kinda way. You start off with a provisional cast on and knit a part of the back, a part of the bodice, then you put stitches on spare yarn and repeat for the other side and somehow bring it all together and it magically looks like a cardigan…..brilliant! The sleeves, which are usually my least favourite part of any sweater knit because they get boring, where actually quick and easy this time around because a) they were completed before the body and b) they were knit flat two at a time and seamed together……from that point on I already had a garment and I was just knitting for length.

As you can see I decided to go for a lot of length. It’s 31” long from top to bottom but the increases along the front section (which I continued along the entire length) create a small flared effect at the front. This cardigan is very me, I would buy it in a shop in heartbeat and it’s easily the most versatile and wearable garment I’ve knit so far. I already want to knit another one…in some super soft squishy wool.

Knitting Project 4/15: Old Town Cardigan

New/Improved Techniques: Fit….I used a lot of calculations and wet-blocked swatches to determine the right size to get gauge and it paid off big time on this one. I still over bought on the yarn though J. This pattern used yet another method for short rows, this time it involved using a small yarn trap to pull up a stitch….sounded complicated but created a perfect “no gaps” short row. All the ribbing was ktbl which is a pain but worth the effort for the look.

If you hadn't said that you knitted it, I would have never known--it looks so professional! I love it. So beautiful. Now, next fall/winter, you'll always get to think about your work when you wear it!
It looks great for staying warm at work, casual on the weekends, and curling up at home!

Nope it wasn't the german short rows (I think they're a great method too) it was a method whereby you use a piece of waste yarn to trap the bridge between two stitches and then on the next row you pull up that bridge to knit it.....terrible explanation but brilliant method!